ON HOPE (a neglected virtue?) part 2 of 3

ON HOPE
(A neglected virtue?) part 2 of 3

It is not enough to believe in God. Our faith must be animated by charity, a total commitment and surrender to Him in Whom we believe. But our love for God must include the ardent desire to be united with Him here on earth and in the life hereafter. What we know by faith must be the object of all our hopes, aspirations, and striving.

Thus God infuses into our souls at Baptism the supernatural virtue of hope “by which we firmly desire and trust that God will give us eternal life and the necessary means to obtain it, because He is a loving Father who keeps His promises”. ( Bp Schneider, CREDO)

It is to be feared, however, that many well meaning Catholic Christians neglect to practice this virtue–to frequently make acts of hope, which is necessary for our salvation. The absence of a desire for Heaven marks a very low level of love for God. For even in human relations we tend to long to be always and completely united with the one we love. Thus to show no explicit interest in eternal union with God shows how little we love God, or that we simply want to avoid Hell, while clinging to the pleasures of earthly life; in a word, a spiritual mediocrity.

As St. Alphonsus Liguori puts it, “All these expressions of ardent longing are so many acts of perfect love. St.Thomas teaches that the highest degree of love that a soul on earth can attain is an ardent desire for Heaven, to be there united to God and to possess Him forever. St. Gregory, St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Bridget and St. Bede the Venerable cite a number of such instances where souls are tormented not on account of sins committed, but because of the absence of a desire for Heaven. There are souls that strive after perfection, but without any special desire to leave this earth and to be united to God. But since eternal life is a priceless treasure that Jesus Christ has purchased for us by His death, those souls that have but a feeble desire to possess it will have to suffer later on this account”. (St. Alphonsus Liguori, The 12 steps to Holiness and Salvation).

Hope also includes a firm trust that God will bring us to Heaven. We have all the reasons to hope for Heaven because God, in His infinite love for us, has promised it and desires to bring us there, as well as grants us all the means to get there, namely, the forgiveness of our sins, victory over temptations, and a holy death.

We keep in mind that God's desire to grant us pardon for our sins is greater than our desire to receive it. We can almost say that God even begs us to be reconciled to Him (cf. 2Cor 5:20; Jn 6:37; Ezech 18:31; Zach 1:3). Moreover, our very Judge at the end of time is Christ, our Redeemer, who not only died for us, but now acts as our advocate with the Father in Heaven. We ought only to repent sincerely of our sins. We are also promised all the graces we need to conquer all temptations, provided we ask for assistance and, considering our weakness, remove all the obstacles to grace that render us even weaker. Most of all, our Lord is especially inclined to assist us at the hour of death, when the devil will make his last attempts at snatching us away from Heaven, if we but call on Him.

We also have the assurance of the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as His and our Blessed Mother's intercession. We never can lose Heaven except by our own fault. Even so we must labor to use all the means of salvation and sanctification God has given us. “We must act as if the obtaining of our salvation depended on ourselves, and yet we must place all our confidence in God and be thoroughly convinced that of ourselves we are utterly unable to attain what we desire.” (St. Alphonsus). Above all we must pray unceasingly until we are in possession of the crown that God has promised us. And given our weakness, “we must do VIOLENCE to ourselves in temptations by conquering ourselves and mortifying our senses so as not to be overcome by the enemy of our souls”. (St. Alphonsus). As St. Paul admonishes us, let us “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12).

May we therefore practice this beautiful virtue by making frequent acts of hope–that conscious expression of our desire to be with God forever in Heaven, trusting in His grace, yet doing our reasonable best to correspond and cooperate with His grace. For the virtue of hope inspires us to view and to judge all things in the light of our last end--Heaven. Such a living hope will then influence our whole life, urging us toward the attainment of our eternal destiny with all the powers of our mind and heart. Let St. Paul remind us to “look for the things that are in Heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God's right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth”(Col 3:2). This firm and active hope will encourage us on our life's journey amidst any and all sufferings, as we look ahead towards the reward of future glory.

Act of hope: O My God, relying on your infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.